The forces of darkness in the Middle East are panicking. One of the most powerful Arab countries in the world has made peace with the dreaded Zionist enemy.
For these forces of darkness, anything that challenges the demonization of the Jewish state is a disaster. In order for these regimes to survive, Israel must remain the irredeemable sinner, the evil oppressor of Palestinians, the Jewish invader who took over holy Muslim land.
This dark view of Israel has long been the mother’s milk sustaining the dictators of the region, keeping attention away from their own corruption, incompetence and oppression of their people.
The problem is that in the long run, any model based on lies and manufactured hatred is not sustainable. At some point, people wake up. People have to eat and make a living. People have to envision a better future.
This opens them up to other truths.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), in making a historic deal to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel, woke up. In fact, its leaders woke up a while ago. The difference is that now, they’re coming out. They’re not hiding it. They’re telling the world and the people of the region: Israel is not our enemy. Israel doesn’t want to invade us. Israel has a lot to offer.
This is an earthquake, a call to Israel’s Arab neighbors to look to the future rather than the past.
But let’s not celebrate too soon. The past will not go down without a fight. There’s still a huge interest among oppressors of the region to keep alive the traditional view of Israel as the “great sinner” rather than the emerging one of a “great partner.”
It’s no surprise, then, that leaders of Iran, Turkey, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are freaking out over this latest deal. You can see them desperately clinging to their old model, accusing the UAE of “betraying” the Palestinian cause and aiming to isolate it while warning others not to follow suit.
These forces are panicking because the UAE, a monarchy aiming to modernize, has shattered the model of the Palestinian conflict as the key to progress in the Middle East. If anything, the conflict has been the biggest obstacle to progress, the convenient excuse for nations to stay stuck in the past.
Cunning Palestinian leaders have always understood the power they were given by other dictators. As long as they remained the poor victims and Israelis the evil oppressors, their power was secured. It was a regional con game, and most of the world was in on it, intentionally or not.
Many Jews were in on it, too. Their genuine and heartfelt critiques of Israeli policies vis-à-vis the Palestinians were not received that way by Israel’s cynical enemies. Instead, they were seen as “Jewish reinforcement” for the Israel-bashing narrative that kept leaders on their thrones.
Even now, despite a historic agreement that gives new hope to the people of the region, you can see liberal Zionist groups contorting themselves to keep the old model alive: “Yeah, this new deal is nice,” they’re saying, “but Israel must stop oppressing the Palestinians.”
Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, of course, would be incredible. But relentlessly pressuring Israel while ignoring the lies, cynicism and Jew-hatred on the other side has been a dramatic failure. It has only fed the power games of corrupt leaders and exponentially set back the cause of peace.
Relentlessly pressuring Israel while ignoring the lies, cynicism and Jew-hatred on the other side hasn’t worked.
Have you ever wondered why decade after decade, as Palestinian leaders have flown around the globe complaining about Israel, the plight of their people has only gotten worse? They want you, they need you, to believe it’s all Israel’s fault.
Now, that worldview has been shaken. The UAE’s courageous move to put the interests of its people ahead of dishonest Palestinian leaders has opened a new door for real progress.
New truths and hard questions may be dawning in the Arab world, such as: Have Palestinian leaders failed their people? Have Arabs been lied to all these years about Israel? Is it true that Jews have a deep and biblical connection to the land and to Jerusalem? Can Arab nations indeed partner with Israel for a better future?
This new moment is a big test for liberal Zionists. If they allow their opposition to President Donald Trump to mute their support for a new direction that can transform the Middle East, they will fail both the Zionist and the Arab causes.
But if they tell Palestinian leaders the truth that they no longer have veto power over progress in the region and it’s time to negotiate in good faith; and if they encourage other Arab states to follow the UAE lead and make a seminal peace deal with Israel, well, they would endorse a major accomplishment of the Trump administration right before an election.
(JTA) — A Belgian daily is under fire for a cartoon that critics say refers to the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Antwerp as “coronavirus village.”
The Aug. 7 drawing in Le Soir by artist Pierre Kroll, who has fought off allegations of anti-Semitism for several previous drawings, shows a tourist bus under the title “Go Visit Antwerp.” An Orthodox Jewish man is cycling nearby without wearing a face mask, several of which are seen on the ground around the bus. A speech balloon above the bus driver reads: “After the zoo, we’ll go tour ‘Coronavirus Village’.”
Richard Kennigsman, a well-known Jewish-Belgian satirist, wrote on Facebook that while he has “not called Kroll an anti-Semite, his painting may be considered as such.”
Joel Rubinfeld, the president of the Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism, said the caricature “again shows that Kroll obsessively returns to Jews in his works.” The August 7 caricature is “subtle in comparison to previous Kroll works,” Rubinfeld added, including one of a lavishly dressed Jewish diamond dealer smiling while visiting the tax office amid unhappy and poor visitors.
In a 2010 interview for L’avenir, Kroll said he “can’t stand being accused of anti-Semitism” because he is not, and he has “many Jewish friends.”
The Orthodox Jewish community of Antwerp has had fewer than 20 deaths from the coronavirus, largely thanks to an early and vigilant adherence to anti-contagion measures.
Le Soir and two of its senior editors did not respond to JTA’s request for comment.
(JNS) The announcement of a normalization agreement on Aug. 13 between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, in advance of the signing of an Israel-UAE peace agreement, sparked many reactions across the Arab world. Senior Saudi journalist Mishari al-Dhaidi wrote in his Aug. 14 column in the London-based Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat that the agreement was an “historic diplomatic achievement” and compared it to the peace agreements with Israel signed by Egypt and Jordan.
In contrast, the Qatari press, as expected, vehemently attacked the agreement, including with invective against the UAE and accusations that it had betrayed and sold out the Palestinian cause and gotten nothing in return. Qatari journalists also tweeted messages attacking it and UAE leader Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Zayed personally, calling him a liar and the “Satan of the Arabs,” and claiming that with this agreement he had left the fold of Islam. Some even called on the Arab countries to boycott the UAE and recall their ambassadors from it.
The following are translations of al-Dhaidi’s column praising the agreement, and some of the Qatari attacks on it.
Saudi journalist Mishari al-Dhaidi. Source: Syasy.net.
The UAE-Israel agreement is a breakthrough that will benefit the Arabs and Palestinians.
In his Aug. 14 Asharq Al-Awsat column, al-Dhaidi wrote: “To put it directly and clearly, the UAE achieved a great political, psychological and security breakthrough in the Middle East when the historic agreement with Israel was announced. This agreement does not disregard the justified right of the Palestinians to establish their state and protect the Islamic holy places for all Muslims. [Rather,] it provides a feasible opportunity … to implement the two-state solution in practice.
“The UAE has made a tangible achievement on the Palestinian front — through action, not slogans — by stopping the erosion of the Palestinian lands in the West Bank in favor of [Israeli] settlements, an issue that was explicitly stated in the tripartite announcement by the UAE, the U.S. and Israel. Turkey, Qatar, Iran and all the rest of the big talkers, and obviously also the organizations of chaos, such as Al-Qaeda, ISIS [Islamic State], the Houthis and Hezbollah, will continue operating their word-mill against the UAE, for [this word-mill] never stopped churning out invective and against this noble, strong and tranquil Arab country.
“Egypt’s historic [leader], president Anwar Sadat, was attacked when he protected his country from a dire fate and from the loss of its territories [by signing the Camp David Accords]. He was a true hero of war and of peace, for Egypt still enjoys the benefits of the peace he made with Israel. Later, the great Jordanian king, Hussein bin Tallal, was attacked when he refused to succumb to the market of populist slogans and brought his country peace [while also] restoring its territories as part of the famous Wadi Araba [peace] agreement. Being a realistic and responsible Arab leader, Egyptian President [Abdel Fattah] al-Sisi welcomed the [agreement] between the UAE and Israel, achieved under the aegis of the U.S. and [its president] Trump.
“The absurd thing is that the propaganda [machine] of the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey and Iran is shooting its arrows at the UAE, while Turkey’s trade, military and tourism relations with Israel continue unabated. Qatar, the shop where Al-Jazeera [hawks its wares,] is also friendly with Tel Aviv and coordinates with it!
“The agreement between the UAE and Israel at least does not come at the expense of the Arabs and Palestinians, but rather benefits them. Whether we like it or not, Israel is one of the countries of this region, and Iran and Turkey are the ones who do us harm that we feel and that [really] burns us. Suffice it to mention what Turkey is doing in Libya and what Iran is doing in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.
“According to the tripartite statement issued by the UAE, the U.S. and Israel, this historic diplomatic achievement can strengthen peace in the Middle East while preserving the two-state [solution]—for real, not in anyone’s imagination. In any case, negotiations, talks and agreements between Israel and Arab countries are nothing new. Some examples are the Camp David Accords, the Madrid, Oslo, Wye and Annapolis agreements, and so on.
“Finally, [let me state that] the populist slogans that are sure to be made against the UAE will be aimed at claiming a monopoly over [the right to reach] agreements and [hold] negotiations with Israel.”
Muhammad bin Zayed sold out the Palestinian cause in exchange for nothing.
An article on the website of Qatari daily Al-Sharq, titled, “This is how the Palestinian cause became a pawn in the hands of bin-Zayed,” stated: “[Is it] ‘suspension’ [of the annexation] or freezing [it]? Or is this another deception by Abu Dhabi? Two conflicting statements, one by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Zayed and another by his state minister for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, [were issued] simultaneously on the same topic, but there were discrepancies between them and they differed in details-from-the-devil.
“The UAE declared the full normalization [of its relations] with Israel, and bin Zayed tweeted that this normalization was in return for suspending Israel’s annexation of the Palestinian lands … [But] while bin Zayed spoke of ‘suspending,’ Gargash spoke of ‘freezing’ [the annexation]! Gargash reiterated this in a post on his official Twitter account … It appears that between ‘suspending’ and ‘freezing,’ the Palestinian cause has become a pawn in bin Zayed’s hands. He is holding negotiations about it … in order to profit, and using the Palestinians and their cause as a cover for his own ambitions.
“In recent years, Abu Dhabi has used its media to lead a vicious propaganda [campaign] on an international scale. The UAE media never tired of describing the Islamic resistance movement Hamas as a terrorist organization and accusing it of holding the Gazans hostage and of causing the destruction of the region and of bringing it to its [current] situation. In this context, it is impossible to ignore the UAE’s campaigns of maligning and renouncing the Palestinian cause, its brandishing of slogans such as ‘[the Palestinian cause is] not my cause,’ and its positive statements about Israel.
“All of this was apparently prepared very carefully and planned by someone who thought about every [detail] … and who today declared the normalization [of relations with Israel in every area:] political, economic, military, intelligence and cultural, as well as in sports. He told the world: ‘I am here to make peace because I come from the land of peace; I, [Muhammad] bin Zayed, am the sponsor of tolerance, love and brotherhood’ … The Palestinian Authority said, in a statement it issued, that what the UAE has done today is an act of treason against Jerusalem, al-Aqsa and the Palestinian cause.”
A cartoon in a Qatari daily: UAE-Israel normalization is a knife in the Palestinians’ back. Source: Al-Arabi Al-Jadid, London, Aug. 13, 2020.
The UAE has become the greatest danger to the Palestinian cause.
An Aug. 14, 2020, article in the print edition of Al-Sharq, titled “The UAE has become the greatest danger to the Palestinian cause,” stated: “Observers believe that this agreement is the outcome of a plan by Abu Dhabi that was prepared over [a period of] years, during which [the UAE] demonized the Palestinians in order to prepare the ground for marketing relations with Tel Aviv to the region and in order to clean up the image of the Israeli regime.
“Since the publication of the U.S. plan known as the Deal of the Century, brokered by Jared Kushner … the UAE has conspicuously played a major role at every juncture relevant to this plan, which observers believe is aimed at eliminating the Palestinian cause. The UAE has been a frontline player in marketing the American Deal of the Century, so as to eliminate the Palestinian cause in a far-reaching and unprecedented manner … Many observers believe that the greatest danger to the Palestinian cause is posed by some neighboring countries that consider Israel a strategic ally and a friend.”
“Bin Zayed is a Satan and a liar”; “This is a black day in the history of the Arabs”.
Criticism of the agreement was also expressed by the Qatari press on Twitter. The editor of Al-Sharq, Sadeq Muhammad Al-‘Amari, tweeted: “Abu Dhabi has sold out the Palestinian cause, and in exchange the UAE flag was illuminated on Tel Aviv’s city hall building.”
Fahed al-‘Amadi, editing director of the Qatari Al-Watan daily, tweeted in response to Crown Prince Muhammad bin Zayed’s announcement: “The Satan of the Arabs, bin Zayed, is inserting the name of Palestine as a pretext to justify this shameful agreement with Israel, and is playing the role of being concerned about the Palestinian cause, when he is the first to sell it out, treat it with enmity, and act against it. He is even continuing to lie in his tweet about suspending the annexation, when the truth is that it is being postponed, not suspended.”
Qatari journalist Jaber bin Nasser al-Marri tweeted: “A black day in the history of the Gulf, the Arabs and the Muslims.”
Jamal Rayyan, a news anchor on the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel who in 2018 expressed his support for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and added that all foreigners in Palestine “will go back to where they came from,” wrote in a series of tweets: “Freezing the annexation — lying excuses. Who are you laughing at?” and “Muhammad bin Zayed has sold Palestine for a pittance. The humiliating peace agreement between Israel and the UAE is aimed at rescuing Trump before the end of his term.” On a tweet of a photo of bin Zayed, he wrote: “This is the man who massacred the martyrs of Palestine again, in their graves. How will he be remembered by history?” He also tweeted, again with a photo of bin Zayed: “Your name is Muhammad, but you have been cast out of the nation of Muhammad.”
Al-Jazeera journalist Hathem Abu Salah tweeted: “Trump declared that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Zayed had agreed on full normalization of relations. I do not understand why the UAE is doing everything for normalization with the occupying enemy who has killed hundreds in Palestine and Lebanon. In my opinion, self-respecting Arab countries must boycott the UAE and recall their ambassadors from it.”
(JNS) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday vowed to use a provision of the Iran nuclear deal to unilaterally reinstate United Nations sanctions on Iran. His announcement came a day after the U.N. Security Council voted down an extension to the arms embargo on the Islamic Republic.
“We’ll be doing a snapback. You’ll be watching it next week,” said Trump during a press conference at his resort in Bedminster, N.J.
Trump referred to a controversial argument that the United States remains a “participant” in the 2015 agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), despite its stated withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018. Consequently, he says it can force a return to sanctions, according to a provision of the deal, if it sees Iran as being in violation of the deal’s terms.
According to the 2015 deal, the arms embargo on Iran will expire on Oct. 18. Despite having exited the JCPOA, the Trump administration has sought for months to extend the ban.
The vote on Friday night saw the United States and the Dominican Republic favor an extension, Russia and China opposed it, and the other 11 members of the U.N. Security Council abstained, including all of the European members.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the vote “scandalous.”
“The decision of the U.N. Security Council not to renew the arms embargo on Iran is scandalous,” he said said in an official statement. “Iranian terrorism and aggression threaten the peace of the region and the entire world. Instead of opposing weapons sales, the Security Council is encouraging them. We will continue to act in close cooperation with the U.S. and countries in the region to block Iranian aggression. The State of Israel will continue to act with full force against whoever seeks to undermine its security.”
The successful trial on Wednesday night of Israel’s Arrow 2 missile interceptor represents an important step forward in the system’s ability to defend against current and future security threats, Israeli defense officials said on Thursday.
The Arrow 2 is designed to shoot down surface-to-surface missile threats in the atmosphere and in space.
The test was conducted jointly by the Israel Missile Defense Organization, a part of the Defense Ministry; Israel Aerospace Industries, the prime contractor; the Israel Air Force; and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
“Our elite technological unit ensures that we will always be one step ahead of our enemies,” Defense Minister Benny Gantz said, commenting on the test, which occurred in central Israel.
Moshe Patel, head of the Israeli Missile Defense Organization, noted that the Arrow system entered service with the Israel Air Force two decades ago in the year 2000. Describing the midnight test as “very important,” he said that “during those 20 years, the Arrow 2 system and interceptors made huge upgrades. I can say at least give major upgrades. So we are very, very proud of [its] success.”
According to Patel, “this kind of interceptor could really face current and future threats that can threaten the State of Israel.”
Iran is developing a series of ballistic and cruise missiles that place the Jewish state within reach, while actively seeking to export guided missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon. According to media reports, Iran has also attempted to install missiles in Syria and Iraq to threaten Israel.
Commander of the U.S. European Command Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti tours the Arrow missile-defense system headquarters in Palmahim, accompanied by Israel Defense Forces’ Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot and Air Defense Commander Brig. Gen. Zvika Haimovich on March 7, 2017. Photo by Matty Stern/U.S. Embassy.
Patel said that in recent years, the IMDO had been focused, “together with our [American] colleagues from the MDA, on conducting flight tests of the Arrow 3 interceptor,” which launches into space and turns into a maneuverable space vehicle that collides into ballistic missiles before they can re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.
In 2019, three Arrow 3 interceptions were completed successfully in Alaska, said Patel, describing it as a “huge achievement.”
However, he stressed, “we didn’t stop during this time to develop and upgrade the Arrow 2 system. Even with this kind of age, we upgraded the system with algorithmic improvements, especially built [to deal] with a future and developing threats. It’s not just the interceptor—it’s all the supporting system, the detection sources, the command and command capabilities that need to support the Arrow 2 system together with Arrow 3.”
The combination of Arrow 2 and 3 “can give a robust capability for our missile defenses against long-range threats,” he added.
The presence of air-force officers who worked shoulder to shoulder with engineers from defense industries in the trial meant that there was a high degree of confidence in operating the system against future threats, said Patel.
Other defense systems that intercept threats at lower altitudes also took part in the trial, including radars from Iron Dome, and Patriot air-defense batteries. “All of these systems were operated by IAF officers,” he said. “We also have the ability to see new versions of our lower-tier systems that were operated by our engineers.”
U.S. representatives present at the launch
IAI executive president Boaz Levi described the flight test as “perfect,” reporting that a target missile was fired from the Mediterranean Sea at Israel, “and the system was ready against this threat.”
“The radar acquired the target and tracked it. It delivered the data to the ballistic-missile defense combat system, which launched the interceptor at the right moment. The trajectory was perfect. The interceptor acquired the target with its own sensor; the warhead fused with the threat and destroyed it. Everything worked according to plan,” said Levi.
He added that young IAF officers shared the same age as the Arrow 2 interceptor—a fact that “demonstrates the technological capability of the system against current threats in the Middle East.”
American representatives of the Missile Defense Agency in Israel were also present at the launch, while other American defense officials followed it via a live, classified broadcast to Washington and Alabama, where the Arrow program office is located.
In a statement, the Israeli Defense Ministry said the “Arrow 2 system successfully engaged a Sparrow target missile, which simulates a long-range surface-to-surface missile. The campaign was conducted in accordance to the defense establishment’s plans.”
The ministry added that “the joint Israeli-American test reflects the partnership and friendship between the two countries, as well as the deep commitment of the United States to the safety of the citizens of Israel. We will continue to work together to strengthen the capabilities of the defense establishment in the air, land and sea, as well as in cyberspace.”
